Links containing URI schemes to external applications do not work on iOS

[jacopo-j]

Hello,

I use NetNewsWire with a custom feed that includes links to other iOS applications in the feed text. Below is a very basic example:

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
<rss xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" version="2.0">
  <channel>
    <title>Example Feed</title>
    <link>https://example.com</link>
    <description>Example Feed</description>
    <docs>http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification</docs>
    <generator>Example/1.0</generator>
    <image>
      <url>/favicon.ico</url>
      <title>Example Feed</title>
      <link>https://example.com</link>
    </image>
    <language>en</language>
    <lastBuildDate>Fri, 05 Dec 2025 17:01:49 +0000</lastBuildDate>
    <managingEditor>info@example.com (Example)</managingEditor>
    <webMaster>info@example.com (Example)</webMaster>
    <item>
      <title>Example Feed Title</title>
      <link>https://example.com</link>
      <description>&lt;a href="octal://item?id=12345678"&gt;Open Octal&lt;/a&gt;</description>
      <guid isPermaLink="false">2ple2m8</guid>
      <category>Example</category>
      <pubDate>Thu, 04 Dec 2025 18:54:19 +0000</pubDate>
    </item>
  </channel>
</rss>

The feed text is just an HTML link that uses the octal:// URI scheme to open the Octal application:

<a href="octal://item?id=12345678">Open Octal</a>

As of now, clicking the link on macOS works perfectly; however, it does not work on iOS (if I tap the link, nothing happens).

Is it possible to allow iOS to open custom URI schemes as well?